BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 28. A press conference was held one day ahead of the "Colonialism: Erasure of National and Religious Identity" international conference, organized by the Baku Initiative Group (BIG), Trend reports.
Representatives of independence movements from former French and Dutch colonies, decolonization experts, specialists working on reparations, and human rights defenders attended the press conference. The event brought together prominent figures from the freedom movements in Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Kanaky (New Caledonia), Corsica, Martinique, Reunion, Bonaire, French Polynesia, Mayotte, as well as Wallis and Futuna.
A particularly notable part of the press conference was the participation of the families of political prisoners from Kanaky, who had been illegally imprisoned by the French government. They emphasized that their relatives' imprisonment was politically motivated and aimed at suppressing the Kanak people's right to self-determination and freedom. The families stated that the French government's colonial policies were targeting those who opposed them. They also highlighted that their relatives' rights were grossly violated, the conditions of detention were inhumane, and their legal defense options were limited. They called on international organizations to exert pressure and demand the immediate release of the prisoners.
Participants of the event stressed the symbolic significance of political prisoners to independence movements and underlined the importance of an urgent and fair resolution to this issue. The facts presented brought attention to the real situation of human rights violations in New Caledonia’s independence struggle and further emphasized the need for international intervention.
The guests answered journalists' questions about the continuing effects of colonialism, the efforts to preserve national and religious identity, and the threats faced by independence movements. They also highly praised Azerbaijan's global role in the decolonization process.
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